Night-time
by DeviWan
Summary: Were they flirting? Because Sasuke couldn't tell anymore. He'd never flirted before, and you just couldn't be sure when Itachi was flirting. His flirts and his threats all sounded eerily similar. Not that he was saying that Itachi was threatening him, because Itachi would never do that. Itachi loved him dearly and Sasuke dared anyone to try and say otherwise.


Night-time

A SasuIta Oneshot.

I don't own the characters used in this story.

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Night-time

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Itachi called at around two in the afternoon. Voice soft and ever so gentle when talking to Sasuke, he'd told his younger brother to make dinner tonight. He would be home in time to eat, but not in time to even start to make anything. Sasuke was forgiving; it wasn't Itachi's fault if things didn't go exactly as planned when it came to their job. He knew Itachi didn't like to rush, which he could do if he really wanted to, but that would be messy and leave too many opportunities for mistakes. Thiers was a job that couldn't afford any mistakes. Mistakes lead to being hunted –by either their enemies or the police- and being hunted lead to the possibility of separation. So, no mistakes. Sasuke would have to make dinner.

He made tacos, not for any other reason but because his eyes landed first on the box with the premade taco shells. It came with a seasoning package and really all he had to do was cook the meat, put the seasoning in and pop the shells in an oven.

Itachi walked through the front door into their apartment at exactly six forty-six, completely normal in appearance and not a hair out of place. There wasn't any bulge on his body that Sasuke could see, that indicated a hidden weapon and he really wanted to ask him where the guns were. They'd been expensive; Sasuke had had to deal with some pretty stupid people to get them. If Itachi lost them again… well, Sasuke didn't know what he do, but he would definitely be annoyed and possibly never let Itachi borrow anything from his stack ever again.

"Where's…" Sasuke started to say, only to be stopped when Itachi snapped out, "No."

He took a deep breath. Then he tried again. "What happened to-"

"No."

Heat swept through him and it wasn't the good kind of heat. This was the kind of heat that had Sasuke gritting his teeth and holding on tighter to the knife he was using to cut up lettuce, les he lose control and throw it at Itachi's head. One deep breath, two deep breaths, three deep breaths. Taking one last deep breath in, he quickly spat out, "Where the hell are my-"

"No, Sasuke."

"-guns!"

"Sasuke," Itachi said in the exact same tone he's used. He shrugged off his coat –left it right there on the rack- and strutted into the kitchen. "No."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Shrugging a little, Itachi walked past Sasuke and opened the fridge, bending down to find something to drink. Sasuke sniffed and turned back to his lettuce, putting his back to the sight that would surely distract him for the rest of the night.

"Whatever," he muttered. "You're just bothering me, like you usually do." He finished chopping the lettuce and put the cutting board and knife back into the sink. Every second of it, he was aware of Itachi's presence and every little move he made. Now that he'd said it, he could see it for what it was. Itachi was riling him up, like he usually did when a target had been particularly challenging to kill and his day had been ruined. It was an annoying habit of his, especially when it caused great irritation and escalating blood pressure for Sasuke. Not that it was entirely Itachi's fault. Sasuke was the one who fell for it every time. He was the one who made it easy for Itachi to do it again and again and again.

Just when he thought Itachi had had his fun and vented in the only way he knew how, Sasuke asked him "What happ-"

"No, Sasuke."

Something exploded (possibly a blood vessel of Sasuke's) and he turned around, backing Itachi against the fridge's door and bracketing him in with both his arms. Releasing a frustrated sigh onto Itachi's shoulder, he counted back from ten.

"Why are you doing this?" He growled out at last, surprised when Itachi didn't stop him halfway through the question. Itachi didn't answer him, which was expected, and only stared into Sasuke's eyes, lips curling up slightly, playfully. In any other situation Sasuke would have melted at the sight, but not this time. Itachi had pushed him too far; Sasuke needed to even things out. Narrowing dark eyes into angry slits, Sasuke said "You don't get any tacos tonight."

The tiny smile on Itachi's lips grew.

"You're going to starve me?" he asked, voice levelled despite the obvious mockering in his eyes.

"Yes," Sasuke answered. "Yes, I'm going to starve you. Teach you not to vent on me."

"I didn't vent on you."

"Don't do that with your eyes."

"What am I doing with my eyes, Sasuke?"

"Stop talking to me like I'm a child."

…

"Don't raise your eyebrow at me!"

It all came to an end –and by '_it'_ Sasuke meant his suffering- when Itachi's smile parted his lips and he laughed softly at Sasuke. The irritation was still lingering around, but a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and Sasuke allowed his head to drop onto his brother's shoulder with a tired sigh. Itachi's hand came up to his head soon enough, threading long fingers through Sasuke's thick hair. Sasuke responded by turning his face in and burying his nose in the junction of his brother's neck. This was a familiar routine. They both knew exactly where they will end up tonight, knew exactly what they would be doing together, to each other.

"God," he mumbled into Itachi's neck. "You're gone all day and then you come back and tease me. How can you be so cruel?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't think I'm going to forget about those guns. You'll find me a new pair, or you're going back to get those ones you left behind."

"Will I now? Sasuke, I don't think that's how you speak to your older brother."

He had a witty response to that, but he held it in and instead lowered his eyes, thoroughly taking all of Itachi in. Did this count as flirting? Were they flirting? Because Sasuke can't tell anymore. He'd never flirted before, and you just can't be sure when Itachi was flirting. His flirts and his threats all sound eerily similar. Not that he was saying that Itachi was threatening him, because Itachi would never do that. Itachi loved him dearly and Sasuke dared anyone to try and say otherwise. And he said that out loud too. Said it so he could get a small laugh out of his brother and a playful pinch to his shoulder.

Sasuke leaned on Itachi a further five minutes before straightening up and getting dinner on the table. Dinner was a quiet affair. Itachi had gotten over his twisted version of a temper tantrum, sparing Sasuke.

Sitting across the table from each other with the TV on softly in the background, Sasuke asked Itachi, "So what happened?"

"Your friend thought he'd do me a favour by following me around."

"What friend?"

"The blond one."

"He's not my friend."

"He seems to think otherwise."

"Well, he's not. He's an idiot. Even worse, he's an idiot who can't decide whether he wants to be a hit man or a police officer. So what did he do, apart from following you?"

"You can ask him that tomorrow when he comes to visit."

"You didn't give him our address," Sasuke said stoically, heart already racing. "You did not. Please tell me you did not give that idiot our-"

"I was joking."

"It didn't sound like you were joking."

"Well, I was."

"You're not sleeping on the bed tonight."

A fine, raised eyebrow. Then a thought occurred to Sasuke.

"You let him borrow my guns!"

A startled, guilty laugh.

"Itachi, I trusted you!"

"Sasuke, he won't be able to pay for this month's rent if he doesn't take on a few jobs. How could I not help him?"

"I can't believe you. You're supposed to hate whoever your family hates."

"You don't hate him."

"Fine. You don't get to sleep on the bed tonight and… no sex for the rest of the week!"

There was a loud crack when Itachi bit into his second taco. He didn't seem at all worried and Sasuke really hated Naruto now. He was tearing their family apart!

"That's fine with me, Sasuke."

Of course it's fine with Itachi. They both knew who would lose, knew who would succumb first. Itachi wasn't human. He could go for weeks without sex. Sasuke claimed he could do the same, but he may or may not have been lying through his teeth. And guess whose pride was going to be shredded to pieces when he comes crawling to the couch, heated and flushed?

"I hate you," Sasuke muttered, chin tucked into his chest. "You make my life miserable."

"Is that not the purpose of my existence as your older brother?"

Sasuke bit aggressively into his empty taco shell…

"Though the sex obviously more than makes up for it."

… And choked.

* * *

For Lily! (PureWaterLily)  
:)


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